Stories for January 25th 2007

Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Air crash kills Ecuador defence chief

Ecuador's first female defense minister died Wednesday in a collision of two helicopters that also killed her daughter and five members of the military, officials said
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Ecuadorians support re writing constitution and new Congress

A majority of Ecuadorians support President Rafael Correa's proposal to amend the Constitution and change the country's one house legislative branch, according go a Cedatos/Gallup opinion poll released this week.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Bolivia's Morales reshuffles cabinet and ratifies reforms

Bolivian President Evo Morales reshuffled this week almost half of his sixteen members' cabinet a day after celebrating his first year in office.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Alarming signals about South Atlantic hake fishery fragility

A significant drop in the South Atlantic common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) breeding biomass and other alarming signals were collected in the latest report from Argentina's National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development, INIDEP, particularly in an area north of parallel 41 S.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Chile to clip military procurement copper fed fund

Chile's Defence Minister Vivianne Blanlot submitted this week a detailed report of the controversial Copper Reserve Law, reaffirming the desire of the government of President Michelle Bachelet to modify or repeal the Pinochet-era legislation.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Global unemployment remains at historic high, says UN

The number of people unemployed worldwide remained at an historical high of nearly 200 million in 2006 despite strong global economic growth, only modest gains were made in lifting some of the 1.37 billion working poor living on less than 2 US dollars per day out of poverty, and the pattern looks set to continue this year, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Argentina: record exports and a 12.4 billion surplus

Argentina last year posted a 12.4 billion dollar trade surplus on record exports of 46.6 billion dollars and record imports of 34.2 billion dollars, helped by an average growth of about nine percent in each of the last four years after a crippling five-year recession.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Norovirus outbreak affects 300 on board QE2

A Norovirus outbreak was reported to have affected more than 300 passengers and crew members aboard the world-famous Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) before the ocean liner docked in San Francisco Wednesday for a regularly scheduled stop, according to news reports.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Uruguay signs trade agreement with United States

Following months of negotiations the Uruguayan government signed Thursday a controversial trade agreement with United States in spite of dissent inside the left leaning ruling coalition over how far closer links with Washington will lead.
Thursday, January 25th 2007 - 20:00 UTC
Argentina now has to set a good example on an international issue

The decision by the Court of The Hague to reject the cautions required by Uruguay does set the scene for both sides of the River Uruguay to return to talks, which never should have been broken.